Two-Thirds
by the-poetry-of-ink
Summary: The Book of Shadows had been ignoring the sisters for months. When will they realize it's not a demon attack or elder meddling, it's not even because of a rift between the sisters, but actually two of the sisters ignoring a new founded bond they were destined to share. Cupid hoped his influence on the book would help before it was too late.
1. Chapter 1

**Two-Thirds**

Piper sat defeated on the dirty floor of the attic. The attic had been collecting dust got a while now, since no one had reason to enter.

"You stupid book! Come back here!" Piper pleaded as she crawled towards it only for it to flee like oil from water.

It had been months, months that the triquetra on the book had been broken and no one knew the cause, especially since the sisters were closer now than ever, it made no sense.

When the sisters first realized something had gone wrong with the book, they assumed it was a demon plotting their demise as usual but too much time had gone by with nothing occurring and it seemed nothing was brewing in the underworld.

No upper level demons had been attacking the house, just the runts of the underworld wanting to prove their value by plotting to defeat them, as usual.

The broken triquetra had set a reign of paranoia down on the house. Each sister wondered what could they have done to forge a rift with another.

The kindness between the sisters was growing false, as if they were putting on a show for an invisible audience. In fact, Prue and Phoebe hadn't argued since the book started avoiding them.

Piper was growing sick of it, they were finally finding solidarity only to be split by the stupid broken book.

It had to be a sick game, there was no other excuse. Why else would they unknown tormentor who was powerful enough to tamper with the book be wasting all of this time that the sisters were vulnerable?

"What more could you want?!" Piper yelled whilst looking up to the ceiling.

"What if it's a test? What if we've become too reliant on the book?"

Piper looked over at her sister who had just entered the attic and ignored the book scooting away.

"Prue, I doubt even the elders could tamper with the book that much. The book is ours and has been sealed with the magic in our blood forever. We are supposed to use it! It's not like we have been using it for personal gain, even Phoebe has matured past that foolishness."

Prue wanted to poke holes in Piper's response and find a way to console her younger sister but she couldn't, she knew Piper was right.

"The triquetra, it's broken in an odd way and I'm tired of ignoring it. None of us wants to admit we are the one or two who broke the bond. One of us is holding all three of us together, but who is it? Maybe if we figure it out, it'll help us fix it."

Piper furrowed her eyebrows. The whole thing was ridiculous, she held no resentment towards either of her sisters. She often felt she was the glue, she had managed to keep the oldest from killing the youngest all along.

"It just doesn't add up Prue. You and Phoebe practically hated each other when she first moved in, and that's when we got out powers and the triquetra didn't break for the first time until we were being tampered with by that demon that feed on rage. So unless you and Phoebe have managed to become worse than that, this makes zero sense."

Prue nodded slowly agreeing with her sister. Maybe someone was behind this, but who would wait this long to attack while they were vulnerable. Why were they bidding their time time?

Her test theory still rang loud in the back of her head, but she decided to be careful in case she was actually incorrect.

She looked down at her younger sister and extended her hand out.

"We will get through this, we always do."

Piper accepted Prue's assistance and got up with her help.

"Do you want something to eat?" Piper asked following Prue downstairs.

Prue wasn't the slightest bit hungry but she knew cooking was something that her sister enjoyed to do and she hoped it would help her alleviate stress.

"I'm famished. Why? Did you want to go grab a bite to eat somewhere?" She joked as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Please, you know my cooking skills are unmatched."

Piper went into the kitchen and got lost in her recipe books and ingredients whilst Prue watched from a distance with a smile on her face.

"Knock knock!"

Phoebe walked into the kitchen with a blissful expression on her face.

"It's been a while Piper, what are you making?"

"A nice lunch for us, we deserve it. We are going to eat and then we are going to talk about that damn book."

Piper started plating the brunch like meal she whipped up, only to be interrupted by Prue who started assisting her.

After a couple of minutes, the kitchen was tidied up and the food was on the table.

"Well I think better on a full stomach."

Phoebe sat at the end of the table while Prue and Piper sat next to each other.

The sisters ate in silence only speaking compliments to Piper in between bites.

"That was delicious Piper." Prue gleamed.

She had no regrets eating at all once she got started.

"Okay, to the book." Piper pointed up stairs dramatically and headed to the stairs only to stop and turn to see her sisters still sitting down lazily.

"I don't care if you're full, you've fought demons on thanksgiving, you can haul your asses upstairs to talk about the book."

Her older and younger sister groaned and got up reluctantly to follow her upstairs.

When they all entered the room they were surprised to see the book had made its way to the furthest corner in the room.

"Sensitive damn book." Piper muttered under her breath.

"We are close! We are the closest we've been in years! Damn stupid book."

Piper raised her arms as if she was about to blow the book up. Prue quickly grabbed Piper's hand and rubbed her thumb across her knuckles in an attempt to soothe her.

"Piper I know you're stressed, we all are but we've got to take a productive approach ok-"

"You guys, look at the book!" Phoebe was relieved to see two parts of the triquetra were glowing and groaned when it stopped before either of her sisters could see.

"Phebs, I know you're trying to lighten the mood but now is not a good time to joke about the book," Prue patronized causing Phoebe to cross her arms.

"Prue, do you really think I think now is a time for joking? Just because I'm not trying to blow the book up doesn't mean I'm not fed up with this situation either. I embraced the book before either of you, especially you."

The oldest sister squinted at her sister causing her to stumble backwards a bit.

"Are you serious? I'll kick your behind with out powers sister."

Piper squeezed Prue's hand drawing her attention to her.

"That wasn't nice."

Prue was about to respond but was cut off by a glowing light emitting from the book. The two parted pieces of the triquetra were glowing.

"Looks like you two are the ones with the problem." Phoebe sassed.

"What?! No.. That's impossible. Prue and I have always been close. It has to be you and Prue." Piper exclaimed.

Phoebe and Prue weren't even insulted by Piper's exclamation, they knew her response wasn't unfounded and it made the most sense.

"We'll the book only reacted while you two were interacting. I guess I'm the glue here. I'm half way tempted to lock you two in here to fix your problems."

Piper and Prue were silent as they wondered what underlying problem they could have buried deep down but there was nothing.

They were yin and yang, they were different but they managed each other in a sense and kept everything balanced in the manor.

"As much as I'd like to disagree with Phoebe, this is our only lead in months. We are going to have to work whatever this is out."

Prue felt defeated. What could she have done to Piper to break the triquetra?

Pheobe thought it would be best to let her sisters deal with the situation on her own, she wasn't much of a mediator anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note:** I am looking forward to reviews and what not. Do you guys think it would good for me to write in the sisters direct perspective from time to time? And also if you have any questions or suggestions I am all ears! With that, I present Chapter 2!

Coop stood invisible in the corner of the room unbeknownst to the two oldest sisters who sat in the attic in silence.

He was rather relieved that things seemed to be taking a step in the right direction, which meant the elders would be off of his case allowing him to handle things with out their scrutiny.

The elders believed the sisters need for the book was in great demand and that tampering with it may cause their untimely demise by the hands of demons who caught whiff of their vulnerability.

The Cupid was much more powerful than most acknowledged and resourceful too. He had friends in all of the right and wrong places that were helping him, even if they didn't know it wasn't in their favor.

Coop was invested, even if it meant he had to do questionable things. He knew it would all be worth it in the end.

He had come from a horrible future, where only two Charmed sisters existed, and neither of them were in the attic with him.

And in that horrid future, there was no power of three to maintain the balance between good and evil, because one sister had died and the other had taken her own life, likely because their destiny was never fulfilled and they didn't even know of it.

Both sisters were truly oblivious and while the elders chose not to meddle in the affairs assuming things would occur naturally, the future was in peril.

So Cupid took it into his hands.

Months ago, Coop traveled time with a little help and nabbed the book which fortunately seemed to recognize that he meant no harm.

It took a lot of magic from the last of charmed ones, but he managed to make it into an alternate reality with the help of Paige and Phoebe.

In the destined reality where the oldest two sisters were bonded as intended he swapped the actual Book of Shadows with that one.

The alternate Book of Shadows knew and felt the strength of the bond between the alternate two sisters and the second it was in the attic with the actual three sisters, it was the equivalent of a rift tearing the two parts of the triquetra apart rendering the book useless.

He was quite proud of himself for thinking up the great plan and knew that even though this was a bit of force on the sisters that he had to stick around to make sure everything progressed but did not intend on rushing the two sisters.

"Prue, I honestly can't think of anything. There is no buried resentment, frustration, or anything... So what did I do to you?"

Piper looked up at her older sister with sadness clear on her face. She had never wanted to disappoint or hurt her and she couldn't think of how she could have in any way.

Prue shook her head adamantly.

"Piper you didn't do anything, seriously everything is fine between us. We've never had any big issues... I'm beginning to think Phoebe was wrong."

Prue started to get up from the sofa when Piper grabbed her hand.

"Look, we have to try and figure something out because it seems the book glows every time we are in contact. So maybe we aren't as close as we used to be. I mean, we don't hang out outside of the regular demonic stuff."

Prue looked down at her sister skeptically.

"Do you resent me for that? I mean I know I work a lot but it's not like you really asked to spend time with me."

Piper shook her head.

"No, it's not like that it was just a suggestion. I don't resent you, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on like you."

Prue looked over Piper's expression only to realize she was being genuine. She was somewhat relieved and partially worried, she didn't thinking their sisterhood had deteriorated in the slightest. How much closer could they be?

"Okay, well let's do something together? I don't know... I just don't feel like that's productive but it's worth a shot?" The oldest sister suggested.

"Well we already ate... How about a movie or something? You get the movie, I'll get the snacks and text Phebs."

Prue nodded reluctantly wishing that she actually felt this was going to help things and headed out.

*Hey, we are having a movie night to bond, are you in or are you in? -Piper*

*Last time I checked this was a you and Prue issue, I've got a date tonight -Phoebe*

Piper couldn't help but roll her eyes.

*Yes, a date tonight which means you'll be returning home after said date. -Piper*

*No promises! -Phoebe*

Piper was a little bitter, she hadn't been on a date in a while. She was too busy managing Quakes horrible hours to go out looking good enough to attract attention.

She decided to head upstairs and dress up a little bit before heading out.

Prue walked down the aisles of the movie shop slowly waiting for something to catch her eye but nothing outside of the horror genre did.

While Piper had faced many real life demons, she still had her qualms about horror movies and disliked them.

Prue laughed to herself thinking her sister ridiculous. As much as Piper tried to pretend she disliked horror movies rather than still being afraid of them, Prue knew the truth.

"Excuse me ma'am, do you require any assistance?" The teenaged store clerk wheezed.

Ma'am? Prue thought to herself. Please, she wasn't old yet by any means.

"What's the scariest movie you have in here?" Prue asked now formulating how to get Piper to actually watch the movie with her.

The young clerk thought for a few seconds before responding.

"Well, if you mean I'm still scared after watching scary I would recommend Sinister, but if you mean my eyes are scarred that was so gross scary, we have the whole Saw collection, Human Centipede, and Hostel 1, 2, and 3."

While gore wasn't one of her sisters favorite things, it wasn't something that really scared her, especially with the amount of demons she had blown up by now.

"I'll take Sinister."


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: I am excited with my thought process for the story, which is why I have posted 3 chapters in two days. I'd love some feedback! :) Also what do you think of things so far?**

"Why did I ever agree to watch this?!" Piper complained as she practically burrowed her way into Prue's shoulder.

"Bonding for the sake of the Book of Shadows remember?" Prue quipped as she focused on the movie.

It was somewhat infuriating that she couldn't tell the characters that all they had to do was vanquish the demon.

She could only imagine how terrified she would be if she had no powers against all of the ones who had attacked her over the years.

Prue was broken out of her thoughts by a demon who had shimmered in besides the TV causing Piper to shriek.

"What are you screaming for?! Blow him up!" Prue demanded.

With out hesitation Piper threw her hands up and incinerated the demon who had luckily hesitated in his attack because he was amused.

"They pick the worst times!" Piper exclaimed as she snatched the remote from Prue and turned off the television.

"Hey, I was watching that."

Prue went to grab the remote but Piper stopped her.

"You turn that television back on and there's going to be a reason why we can't use the book."

Prue couldn't help but laugh at Piper's snarky behavior. She was always like this when she was afraid.

"You're such a scaredy cat. Want me to sleep with you?" Prue mocked as she got up and stretched.

"...Please?" Piper pleaded with a pout on her face.

Prue was a bit surprised, she hadn't had to sleep in Piper's since they were kids, then again she wouldn't have been surprised if Piper had managed to avoid horror movies since then.

"Alright, alright." Prue followed her younger sister upstairs and into her room. "Where's the chair?"

Piper cocked her eyebrow at her sister. "That chair has been gone for ages and if you think you are getting out of protecting me over a chair, you've got another thing coming missy!"

The younger sister patted the space beside her while looking at her older sister sternly.

Prue rolled her eyes and laid beside her younger sister on the bed.

"Chicken."

On cue Piper huffed and roller over. While she knew she was being childish, she didn't care as long as she wasn't alone. The movie had frightened her quite a bit and she'd take being teased over being too afraid to sleep.

"At least I'll be a chicken with beauty sleep. I definitely need it." Piper quipped.

Prue knew Piper's confidence level wasn't on par with her's or Phoebe's but she knew she wasn't one to degrade her self with out reason.

"Piper, while everyone needs sleep, you are not one who needs beauty sleep. ...What's special about tomorrow anyway?" Prue questioned carefully wondering if she had forgotten anything important.

Piper rolled over to face her sister with a smile clear on her face.

"Well when I was out getting snacks earlier today, I ran into this guy, literally. He was very kind about the whole thing and asked me out to coffee."

Prue suddenly felt protective over her sister. Piper hadn't dated anyone in a while, Prue recalled. She didn't want to have to deal with the whole puppy dog situation while trying to bond.

"You know that can't get in the way of us fixing things with the book right? That has to come first."

Piper couldn't help but laugh at her sisters sudden seriousness.

"It's a coffee date, it's not like I'm going to marry the guy." She joked.

Coop groaned. She was so painfully unaware, she actually did end up marrying the guy.

Leo was going to be a distraction, and Coop couldn't have that, but what could he do?

Leo still had to be apart of their lives. He just couldn't be in a relationship with Piper because if that happened, she would never realize her true destiny until it was too late.

He knew Leo didn't know she was a witch or Charmed yet, so there was still a window. Perhaps he could delay their meeting and it wouldn't screw things up too badly.

Coop beamed to his Xach, his friend who happened to be a dark lighter. The Cupid gained his lenience in the past by helping him find love.

Yes, even some evil beings were meant to find love.

"Hey Coop, what are you doing around these parts, something after you?" Xach questioned as he summoned his crossbow.

"No, no worries. I was actually here to make good on a favor you owed me?" Coop was a bit amused. Xach had no idea he would be helping him keep evil from taking over the earth.

"What do you need?" Xach put his crossbow away and waited patiently for Coop's response.

"I want you to go rough up a white lighter. Don't poison him. Just make sure he doesn't go on his date tomorrow or ever preferably. His name is Leo, you should have no problem sending him. He's the only male white lighter in the area right now."

Coop was surprised when Xach orbed to Leo right away.

Leo was on his way to a charge when Xach appeared in front of him with his crossbow.

The white lighter wanted to retaliate but the dark lighter was right at his throat.

"You go see that date tomorrow, and I'll drive her insane and I mean it. Stay away from her and she'll be perfectly safe. Go near her and I'll drive her off of the San Francisco bridge."

Leo was furious. How dare this dark lighter show up and threaten him?

"Who sent you and how do I know you aren't going to kill her anyway?"

Xach's instincts were pushing him to release the arrow on the white lighter but he knew he couldn't do that.

"Why would I show up and tip you off? If I wanted to hurt her or anyone else, we'd just do so. No one is after her. This is about you. So, go near her and I won't be the only one after her. Stay away and we won't go near her."

Confusion filled Leo's head, he had the strangest feeling that Xach was being sincere and he didn't like it.

The white lighter had been looking forward to the date with the beautiful girl he ran into earlier that day.

Why.. Who would want to prevent a simple date? He wanted to be selfish and take her out anyway but it wasn't worth exposing her to danger.

"Alright.. I won't go."

Coop had been watching the whole ordeal, glad and somewhat surprised that Xach wasn't taking things too far.

He was relieved to see Leo standing down, but could also imagine him warning the girl he wasn't going to be able to make it so he appeared making it so only Xach could see him.

"Make sure he stands her up, take his phone or something."

Leo was perplexed to see Xach nodding as if someone was beside him.

"Give me your phone."

Xach pressed the crossbow against the white lighters neck when he hesitated.

Reluctantly Leo handed over his phone to the dark lighter. He of course hadn't memorized the girls number and was aggravated that he wouldn't be able to warn the girl.

"Ta-ta."

The dark lighter orbed away and Coop beamed away along side him back into the underworld.

"Thanks Xach, I almost feel like I owe you one."

Xach looked at Coop inquisitively.

"Why are you meddling with a white lighter's love life?"

Coop hesitated, not wanting the dark lighter to turn on him.

"...You know I'm Cupid and as much as it is my job to guide those to love, it is also my job to keep certain people from getting together. If they were to have gotten together tomorrow morning, the balance between good and evil would've been destroyed in the future. Too much good is a bad thing too."

Coop wasn't too far off from the truth and was satisfied to see Xach accepted his lie.

"...Well why didn't you let me kill him then? We can't risk that." The dark lighter brought his crossbow back a new determination in his face.

"You kill him and the same thing will happen when he is sent back by the elders. He's meant to live and be their white lighter one day. But preventing this one date, will keep them from being together." Cupid hoped.

The dark lighter was disappointed but relinquished the idea of killing the white lighter.

"And no one is going to know I practically saved the underworld. I'll have to tell my wife."

The dark lighter orbed away to his wife while Coop beamed back to the manor.

The two eldest sisters were asleep on opposite sides of the bed, but a mere wave from Coop's hand brought them closer together.

Piper's arm was now draped across Prue's waist as she laid her head on her chest, and Prue's arm was around her, holding her close.

Coop hoped Prue was the first to wake, because as much as she wanted to, he knew she wouldn't dare disturb her sister after ticking her off last night.

If Prue woke up first, he wondered would she question their position. He wanted her to.

With another wave of his hand, Piper's leg was moved in between Prue's.

That's more like it, Cupid thought to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

The eldest sister had woken up from an oddly passionate dream, she had no recollection of what occurred but she could just tell it was something good.

Usually the second her eyes opened Prue would head down stairs and start her day but Piper had managed to trap her.

Great, the older sister thought to herself. If Piper wasn't already irritated with her and had a date later today, she would have gotten up and she almost did anyway until she looked down at her peacefully sleeping sister, not at all phased or aware of the intimate position they seemed to be in, it was just her scardey cat sister after all much to Coop's dismay.

He grew irritated pondering how long it would take for them to realize. He wasn't used to dealing with this sort of thing. Usually a spark was as clear as day, but for the sisters it had yet to be discovered.

Cupid wondered what he could do to help them find it with out causing an odd rift between the sisters.

Now was as good a time as any since Piper was asleep and couldn't actually be held responsible for her actions, he surmised but before he could even decide what to do, Piper started to wake much to Prue's relief.

"Hey there chicken, you never told me what time your date was."

Piper sprung up and grabbed her watch from the nightstand, luckily she had two hours.

Phoebe entered the house just in time to see Piper leave slightly dressed up rather than in her usual casual attire.

"What's with Piper?" Phoebe asked Prue whilst closing the door behind Piper.

"She has a date." There was a hint of disdain in Prue's voice. "I swear if this guy gets in the way of us fixing the book, I'll wink his wink off."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Piper hasn't been on a date in a while, you know she's more of the slow and steady type anyway. I'm sure we will hav-"

Phoebe's sentence was cut off by a premonition.

It seemed as if she was at a formal party. Next thing she knew, she was practically in bed with a man. It was almost as though she could feel everything the woman her her vision felt. The lust and heat was over powering.

Suddenly, her premonition changed to the disgusting murder of the man while he was in bed with a woman or at least that appeared to be a woman before it fed on him.

She was completely in shock once she came to, it had been a while since she had a premonition that dealt with anything dangerous and it was the first time one had felt so real.

Prue looked at Phoebe expectantly wondering why her younger sister was hesitating to divulge what she had seen.

"Prue, there's a monster eating men. I saw a party and there was this guy and boy was it hot.. Well until it wasn't." The youngest sister started fanning herself.

Phoebe ignored the look of disgust on her sisters face and tried to ignore her worry. She had never felt so apart of a premonition before.

"I'm gonna go see Darryl. I doubt this is the first time a man has disappeared due to this... thing."

Prue waved her sister off and decided to head upstairs to get some work done.

Coop wondered what the thing could be. He hoped it was a lower level demon that Piper could blow up.

For the slightest second the Cupid wished that the sisters wouldn't meddle in situations that involved them but he knew that was a selfish wish.

He knew the sisters were destined to do good for anyone who needed it and that inspired him even more so to help them reach that goal though he couldn't help but worry.

If the girls caught the attention of that thing and needed a specific spell or potion to protect themselves, the elders would have his tush.

Phoebe in the alternate future was excellent with making spells on the fly, he could only hope that the thing required a spell and that Phoebe from now would be able to make a suitable one.

He was distracted from his thoughts by a vibration in his pocket. Ah, Leo's cell phone, he smiled to himself when he saw Piper's text.

*You didn't forget about me did ya? :) -Piper*

Coop thought it would be best that he didn't respond, that way her hopes would be tarnished but her future friendship with Leo would be free of resentment.

Another hour or so had passed. Piper was furious, embarrassed, and upset.

Waiting outside of the manor teary eyed for a while seemed like the best.. only thing she could do about the situation.

She wanted to walk in, shrug it off to Prue and Phoebe. It was no big deal that she got stood up and ignored.

Who was she kidding?! It was a big deal. He was cute, kind, and she had gotten her hopes up. It had been a while since she'd been on a date after all.

Piper rested her forehead against the steering wheel and pondered what could be so wrong with her.

Fifteen minutes of purely negative tear inducing thoughts had gone by, she was about to lose it again when a tap on her window caught her attention.

Reluctantly she looked up, only to see Prue staring at her with concern clear on her face.

Piper exhaled slowly trying to collect herself before she got out of the car.

"Piper, what's wrong?" Prue asked as she opened the door to the manor. She was going to head to the auction house but saw Piper rather upset in her car so that was just going to have to wait.

"He stood me up. No call. No text. No explanation. Nothing." Piper wasn't about to cry in front of Prue over a guy she just met, it was more than that to her. "Why am I so unwanted?.. It's been so long but even then I was afraid to bring a guy home. What if he saw Phoebe or you and decided I wasn't good enough?"

Prue hugged Piper close. "You are extraordinary. Guys these days are chasing after dumb girls who can't do anything for them self because they can't handle a woman like you. You're strong willed, an excellent sister, and an excellent cook. The right guy will come along for you, I promise."

Piper felt a little bit better at her sisters words and decided to change the subject. "Where's Phoebe? I saw her heading in as I was leaving earlier."

Prue wanted to keep the situation away from Piper, she didn't need more stress but she knew that wasn't the right thing to do.

"She had a premonition of a man eating creature at some party so she decided to go down to the precinct to see if she could get any hints."

Piper cringed internally. She really hoped this had nothing to do with the men who were disappearing time to time over at Fine Romance. Piper rather regretted signing up for the dating service as it was expensive and got her no where.

A knock on the door distracted her from her thoughts.

"I'll get it." Prue stated as she got up and opened the door.

"Hey Prue, are your sisters around? I could use some help with a case." Darryl was obviously a bit reluctant to have to resort to the sisters but he had no other choice.

"What am I not good enough for you?" Prue joked as she stepped aside so he could come in.

"Hey Piper." Darryl was completely oblivious to Piper's dreary demeanor.

Piper wore a fake smile and ignored the look of concern on Prue's face. "What do you have for us?"

Darryl placed the an open case file on table before them. There were pictures of men, familiar men much to Piper's dismay.

"These guys have been turning up every couple of weeks. Not just dead but completely drained of their testosterone almost like some succubus thing got em."

Prue looked at Darryl surprised he was aware of such a thing.

"And how do you know what a succubus is?"

Darryl rolled his eyes. "I watch TV, that's not some unknown mythical monster. I was certain they were made up by us regular people but then I remembered when I thought witches were too. So I figured maybe you'd have something in that book of yours to take care of it?"

Prue looked over at Piper who was avoiding eye contact with her not wanting to handle the situation.

"Well I don't remember seeing anything about a succubus in the book. I've been studying it lately," Prue lied. "So maybe that means Piper can blow it up?"

Piper groaned. One, she didn't want to go to Fine Romance in fear of being recognized by someone in front of her sisters and two, she was fairly certain that blowing it up would not be an option.

"And how are we supposed to find the succubus? It's not like we have any warlock man bait and using Darryl is out of the question because he can't protect himself from her." Piper quipped.

"Phoebe can write a tracker spell." Prue stated as if it was fact hoping the hope in her voice wasn't noticed.

"I hope she can write a killer spell too because I doubt we can blow up a succubus. It feeds which means it has to be strong."

Darryl didn't know if he felt any better now that he brought the case to the sisters. They didn't seem to know what they were doing. Perhaps the book didn't have everything in it.

"I'm going to leave this case file with you." He was about to open the door when Phoebe walked in.

"Will you learn how to check your phone? I went down to the precinct looking for you. There's a man eating lady on the loose!"

"Yeah, we know. I've already told your sisters." He lowered his voice. "I really hope you can do something about it because to be honest, they seem clueless."

On that note he left the house and the case with the sisters.

***Note: Things are going to start picking up :D also how are you guys liking the 1000+ word chapters? Also I might be doing a chapter from Piper's perspective soon, what do you think? Reviews are welcome!


	5. Chapter 5

"Well what are you two waiting for, let's go scope out guys! I mean succubus." Phoebe exclaimed clapping her hands together in excitement.

Prue reigned in the urge to roll her eyes. At least Phoebe was positive about the situation at hand even knowing the book would be no help to them.

"We are going to need a tracking spell. She hasn't been caught now so I doubt we could spot her out of a crowd of women during a steak out."

Phoebe knew her Prue was right. "I can write a tracking spell in the car, come on we haven't had anything to do in months. Pleaseeeeeee."

Piper wasn't feeling up to it at all but she knew the men's lived were more important than her sisters possibly finding out that she was a Fine Romance member. "Let's get going."

The sisters waited in the parking lot across the street with Phoebe in the passenger seat finishing up the succubus tracking spell.

"Okay, who wants to be the tracker?" She asked while looking over the spell again already knowing the answer.

"I'll do it." Prue immediately volunteered. She would always choose to be the one in danger over her sisters.

Piper had no qualms about her sisters volunteering, it was the usual.

"Okay let's go inside."

The three sisters were headed across the street when Piper noticed the man who had stood her up entering Fine Romance along with a female.

"Piper what's wrong?" Prue asked sensing her discomfort.

Piper didn't want to get all emotional but she really did not want to go inside and risk the chance of being rejected by him and falling apart.

"The guy who stood me up went in there... I'm going to stay in the car, if you need me I have my phone."

Phoebe wanted to ask about the situation and comfort her sister but knew that now wasn't the time or place.

"Okay Prue lets get going."

The oldest and youngest sister were a bit distracted when they entered the building. It was extravagant and filled with well dressed attractive men.

Why didn't I dress up more? Phoebe thought to herself.

Prue was previously headed to the auction house so she luckily was dressed nicely in slacks and a button up.

"Excuse me, what are you two ladies doing here? It's Wingman Week, no girls allowed until after 6 and not a minute before." The receptionist stated with an attitude.

"Well actually we were interested in signing up for the service but I can see you must be busy."

The receptionist perked up and plastered a smile on to her nervous face.

"Oh my, I'm sorry. I believe I got you two mixed up with two girls who signed up already. Are you wanting the 3,6, or 9 month package? Or can I interest you in a full year of wine and dine with handsome charismatic financially stable men?"

Phoebe nearly forgot she was there on witch business just looking at all of the hot men around. "How much is the three month package?"

The receptionist was glowing thinking of the commission she was going to get from them.

"We actually have a discount on all packages for new comers this month which means the three month package will only cost you two thousand dollars."

Phoebe started choking on her spit while Prue started doing some math wondering how long it would take her to recoup that much of her savings.

"Are you serious? That's too expensive!" The youngest sister complained.

The receptionist's good mood deflated.

"Well it's a sort of quality check, other wise we'd have a bunch of undesirable

women like yourself in here."

Phoebe was going to let the receptionist have it but Prue cut her off.

"I'm still interested in the three month package."

As much as Prue disliked the idea of spending her hard earned money on something so ridiculous, she knew that killing the succubus was more important than 2,000 dollars.

"Fantastic! Also with the discount, you have access to all of the auditioning tapes with no extra fee."

Prue's interest was peeked, maybe seeing the tapes would help her narrow down who the succubus could be. "Even the women's?"

The receptionist hesitated. "Oh.. Fine Romance isn't so much geared towards those sorts of relationships. Not that we have an issue with it or anything, it's just no erm people like that sign up here to be honest." Well there goes my commission the receptionist thought.

"I just wanted to scope out the competition." Prue joked trying to stay off of the receptionists radar.

"Oh okay great! I thought you were one of those homosexuals for a minute there." The receptionist wanted to suggest that the woman should dress more femininely but didn't actually want to help the girl. The longer a lady needed to find love, the more money went into her pockets. "Feel free to take a look around while I get the paper work together."

Phoebe was about to head towards a rather attractive man she who caught her eye but was pulled back by her sister.

"Are you trying to get us kicked out? Only I will be allowed in here after 6 and I kinda need you to cast that spell now."

Phoebe huffed and followed her older sister into the restroom.

"You're really no fun." She complained as she pulled the spell out of her purse.

"I really hope this works." Prue stated nervously. While she knew her sister had created some nice spells in the past, she would never be comfortable being the subject of one.

"By the forces of Heaven and Hell draw to Prue this woman fell. Rend from her foul desire. That she may perish as a moth to fire."

A glowing light appeared around Prue's body causing Phoebe to cover her eyes.

"You can op- What the hell is wrong with my voice?!" Prue exclaimed causing Phoebe to open her eyes.

"Oh.. Oh my god. Please don't kill me." Phoebe begged as she took a few steps was growing irritated.

"Phoebe what did you do to me?!"

Phoebe nervously gestured to the mirror causing Prue to slowly turn around.

"I'm a man!" The older sister turned brother exclaimed.

"Shhh! Are you trying to get us kicked out?.. I think it worked. Maybe the succubus will pursue you now?" Phoebe reasoned trying to calm her new brother.

Manny reigned in his anger and focused on the positive side of the situation. At least they'd be able to find the succubus now.

"I have some papers to sign."And with that Prue headed back to the receptionist's desk.

"Hello, I'm interested in signing up for the three month package. I already know about the discount and everything. Can we make this quick?"

"Yeah sure. You ought to be a tad nicer to the girls you plan on dating though." She remarked as she handed him the packet and redirected her attention to Phoebe."Why are you still here? And where is that woman from earlier?"

"Oh her? Uh well she was going to buy the package for erm.. Manny over there, her brother but she had to go so he's here now. And I'm here to help him, I'm his wing woman." Phoebe answered trying not to seem flustered by the sudden change in plans.

"Manny? Seriously?" Prue complained as he finished signing everything.

"As you can see he's a bit weird, talking in third person like that. Definitely needs my help.

"The receptionist was tired of dealing with the two. "Whatever, let's get him interviewed."

"So how soon until people start viewing my tape?" Manny asked the interviewer.

"Your tape is the best I've seen, I'm sure you'll find yourself with a lot of girls. You're really in touch with your feminine side. I've uploaded it to the site and app already. It's called Fine Romance as well, just sign in with your sign up information and you'll have access to all of the tapes and you'll see who has viewed and liked yours."

Manny was pleased that things were so simple, he'd be Prue again in no time.

"Piper headed home when she found out it was Wingman Week, she said to let her know when to pick us up." Phoebe explained while texting a reply. "Also I just downloaded the application."

"You two can wait in here until your ride arrives if you'd like." The interviewer offered before leaving the room.

"Phoebe, I promise I will get you back for this. You don't understand how uncomfortable I am right now." Manny complained with his hand on his hip.

"Manny, we are going to have to work on you being a man because that wasn't bruting. We are after a succubus not Neil Patrick Harris." Phoebe jokingly snapped her fingers and tilted her head.

Manny ignored his sister and took her phone out of her hands to put his information in the some navigating he found the tapes section.

"Why are these sorted by undated first?" He asked while scrolling to the bottom assuming the succubus would be most dated.

"Well if someone just signed up they'd feel crumby if they didn't get any attention." Phoebe responded.

Manny was still in the inexperienced dater section when he saw a picture.

"Piper?"

Phoebe was too busy staring at men from the hallway to see what Manny found. "You want me to tell her to pick us up? If this doesn't cheer her up I don't know what will. You've got to admit this is a bit funny."

"No Phoebe, Piper is a member. It's her third month and she's still in the undated section. Which explains why she's been so torn up lately."

"Oh dear." Phoebe felt pretty bad for her sister. She knew she'd probably feel ten times worse if she had been a member for 3 months and had no success.

"Let's watch her tape, maybe we can give her some pointers? She's a wonderful person maybe she just got nervous during the interview."

The two sisters had finished watching Piper's tape which ended pretty quickly due to the interviewer trying to get Piper to give more attractive answers. Apparently she thought Piper was too was going to go tear the interviewer a new one and demand his sister get a refund when a notification popped up.

*Piper Halliwell Winked at you, Wink back to allow her to send messages to you.*

"Well wink back Manny. She watched your tape and liked what she saw." Phoebe burst into a laughing fit, but her comment gave Manny an idea.

He winked back.

"Jeez Manny I was just joking around. I know you don't want Piper down in the dumps but don't give her false hope."

Manny smiled which caught Phoebe off guard. He was happy that he was going to help cheer his sister up.

"It's not false hope if I take her on a date. She needs confidence boost and I'm going to give her one. We'll go out to eat and then I'll tell her I got drafted or something."

"You are brilliant. I'll tell her Prue went to Bucklands and I'll introduce you as an old friend from high school. You ask her on a date cheer her up and then you and I come back her and kill us some succubus." Phoebe exclaimed as she took the phone and texted Piper asking her to pick them up.


	6. Chapter 6

Piper was filled with disappointment when she saw Phoebe talking to the man she had Winked at earlier. Well he's a lost cause now, she thought to herself.

"Hey Phoebe, who's your friend?" She asked trying to keep the frustration out of her voice.

"Oh this is Manny, old friend from high school. I just bumped into him actually. We were catching up, isn't that right Manny?"

Manny nodded focusing on Piper, he already knew she was disappointed that he was talking with Phoebe, especially since she was pretending she didn't recognize him.

"Who knew I would be so fortunate to meet the beautiful woman who winked at me today." He stated wanting to flatter her. Manny was determined to focus on the good side of this bad spell gone wrong and when Piper blushed he knew it was worth it.

"Oh so it is you." Piper replied shyly not wanting him to think she had forgotten his tape already. "You're too kind."

"Chivalry isn't dead, just forgotten and a beautiful woman like you makes me remember." Manny replied trying to be suave.

He recalled the personality of a man Phoebe conjured up for Piper a while ago, he was the serious romantic type which Piper tried to deny she was into but now Piper was flustered.

"Man up why don't you Manny." Phoebe laughed ignoring Piper's glare.

"I know we are generally supposed to mix in there before trying out a date but I don't know that I could bare seeing another man look at you with the intention of stealing your attention away from me," Manny felt really odd about the whole situation but his ego was through the roof. Maybe the spell affected more than his physical appearance. "Would you like to go on a date with me today?"

Piper was blushing. She hadn't expected Manny to be so intense. She could tell from his tape that he was very in touch with his feminine side but he seemed so manly now.

"Yes! ..I mean today? Can we reschedule?" She really hoped that he'd agree.

"Piper, actually you're free today remember? The succ- ..uh the thing I mean won't be there for a while, no girls allowed." Phoebe insisted knowing if they rescheduled Piper would end up stood up again because Manny would be gone and Prue would be back.

"Wait where's Prue?" Piper asked changing the subject while she thought the date over. Manny seemed pretty mysterious to her which while it made her a tad uncomfortable, it peaked her interest.

"Oh Prue? Prue... She went to Bucklands. Something about a broken antique vase or something." Phoebe responded. "Stop changing the subject and go on your date. I promise he won't bite, hard."

Manny tried to keep the disturbed look he felt off of his face. "You really haven't changed at all Phoebe, and you wonder why I never chased after you like all the other boys." He joked while wanting to reassure Piper he wasn't interested in the younger sister.

Piper was ecstatic. A man that didn't want Phoebe, that was rare she thought. "Well, I guess my schedule is clear after all."

Phoebe was relieved. "Great, I hope whatever you do is close by. Manny walked here."

Manny was confused for a second until he realized that he wasn't going to be able to command the sisters car as usual.

"It's San Fransisco, we were born to walk." He replied casually.

"Well you work on that walk Manny." Phoebe reminded in a joking tone.

Piper was rather confused but ignored the comment. "I can drive."

Manny was a bit confused as to why his ego was wounded at the idea of Piper driving them somewhere but played it off.

"Why don't we walk to the restaurant down the street? A lady of your caliber shouldn't be chauffeuring me around."

Piper nodded mindlessly and started walking with Manny.

Where did this guy come from? After 3 months of failure with Fine Romance someone had finally noticed her.

"So what's a guy like you doing on a dating service, you really don't seem like you need one." She asked wondering what could be wrong with him.

Manny didn't skip a beat in his reply. "It's hard. When you're a man like me who isn't afraid to have meaningful conversation and actually listen to a woman and ask her questions because you care, women get the notion that you're too in touch with your feminine side. I don't think I am, I just think a real man isn't afraid to show his real emotions." He finished, focusing on how to walk like a man.

Piper was silent for a moment wondering how anyone had missed the gold mine beside her. He seemed perfect.. Almost too perfect.

"There has to be something wrong with you." She tried to sound like she was joking but Manny picked up the suspicious tone in her voice.

"Uh, well I've been known to be a bit too scrappy at times. I don't handle jealously well. Not to say I'm immature but sometimes when a guy can't take a hint to back off, I react badly. I've been cheated on quite a few times by girls who wanted to keep the nice guy in their pocket." Manny was pretty proud of himself for not struggling to think of good responses to Piper's questions.

"Why is a woman like yourself using Fine Romance? I'm sure you could just walk outside and find a date." He hoped his flattery would help elicit an honest response. He was worried about his sister.

"Well.. I mean my oldest sister for example, she's extremely confident and my youngest sister she's very stunning and I'm just sort of there. I'm average unconfident and stubborn." Piper didn't know why she was sharing all of that with him. His presence comforted her.

Manny stopped walking and focused on her to emphasize his point. "You are extremely attractive. In fact I find that knick of hair missing from your eyebrow to be quite appealing."

Piper blushed surprised he noticed that. He must of really been looking at her.

"Also Piper, while you may not have your older sisters confidence, you are equally if not more so stunning than Phoebe." He wanted to laugh but managed to contain it.

A few minutes of conversation and compliments had passed until they were seated finally at the restaurant and eating.

"So Manny, what do you do?" Piper asked wanting to learn more about the mystery man.

Manny wasn't really prepared for the question, or any question for the matter but he knew he couldn't hesitate.

"I freelance as a ghost writer. I'm not really supposed to talk about it being a ghost and all." He jokingly replied.

Piper didn't know if she felt better knowing he had a job or uncomfortable because it was still mysterious.

"Why'd you Wink back at me?" Piper asked wondering how she caught his eye.

"Well honestly, I was furious that the interviewer kept interrupting you and trying to mold your answers. I know from an outside perspective that it could make other guys cringe and move on but I was intrigued by your beauty so your poor audition didn't phase me. I wanted to get to know you genuinely. I now see your personality that matches your looks." Manny wanted to high five himself for being so smooth.

Piper still couldn't believe this date was happening with such an intense and honest guy. It was like he was picked for her. A part of her wondered if Phoebe conjured him.

"So... mystery Manny, you're not going to disappear after a day are you?" She knew if Phoebe did conjure him up for her that he'd have to tell her if he was because if he was her's he would be honest.

"Are you asking me over because as much as I'd like to," He nearly gagged at the thought whilst changing the subject "I am certain you're more modest than that. If I wanted to shag on the first date I would've asked Phoebe out."

Piper was going to defend her sister when she recalled they were old high school friends and Phoebe sure did get around back then.

"That's not what I mean-" Her sentence was cut short when she noticed the man who had stood her up headed her way. "Oh great now he wants to see me." She mumbled sarcastically.

Manny looked over towards the guy.

"Who's that?" He asked curiously.

"Only a guy who stood me up not to long ago with out explanation." She admitted rather embarrassed.

Manny was angry, not regular mad but testosterone induced mad. How dare that guy stand up his sister? He kept his cool and waited for the guy to approach the table.


	7. Chapter 7

Leo noticed the girl from the store a few days ago sitting with some guy. He knew what he was about to do was probably a bad idea, in fact he was going to turn around when she noticed him also.

He noticed the pang of hurt in her eyes and knew that even though he wasn't allowed to date the girl that he should at least apologize.

Coop was of course watching from the distance gleeful about the Manny situation and decided to let Leo approach the table knowing he wouldn't want to put Piper in harms way by taking her for a date.

"Uh, hi Piper." Leo greeted nervously ignoring the irritated look from her date.

"What do you want?" Manny asked before Piper could respond.

Leo didn't know if he should explain himself or continue talking to Piper. He chose the latter.

"I'm really sorry about the other day. Something came up and my phone got stolen and I didn't memorize your number."

Manny noticed the peek of interest on Piper's face and couldn't help the jealousy that went through him thanks to a wave of Coop's hand.

"Excuse me, but as you can see we are on a date here. So if you could kindly leave, I'd appreciate it." Manny replied.

Leo knew it was now or never. He felt a connection to the girl and would rather deal with protecting her than let her date this guy.

"Actually, Piper I was wondering if you'd like to go on that date we were supposed to go on the other day right now."

Coop was furious at Leo's selfishness. How dare he put his needs before someone's life the Cupid thought.

Piper was in a predicament. She was very attracted to Leo, he seemed light hearted and kind but she couldn't help but feel interested in Manny. He was intense, mysterious, and seemed to know all of the right things to say.

Manny's ego was wounded but he knew he couldn't completely shut the guy down even after he hurt his sister so badly.

"Look here, I'll tell you what. You can be a man and let me finish my date with Piper. I don't take you to be the asshole type so go ahead and take her number down. I can handle competition but if you stand her up and hurt her again I'm going to find you and lose my shoe in your ass."

Leo was completely taken aback by Manny's response. While on one hand he didn't want to be challenged in front of Piper, he knew Manny had a point and he wanted to be respectable.

Piper on the other hand was completely ensnared by Manny on his reply alone. It surprised her that he cared so much about her feelings.

"Leo, I'm sorry to say but I'm not interested."

Manny's eyes went wide. This wasn't going according to plan he thought. It was going to crush Piper not to have anyone to land back on after he got 'drafted' aka turned back into Prue.

"I understand.." Leo replied dejectedly.

"Are you sure Piper? He seems like a nice guy." Manny replied wanting to salvage a date for her and Leo.

While Piper was confused, Leo thought Manny was taking a poke at him.

"Fuck you."

Manny rolled his eyes.

"You wish." He replied with out thinking.

Leo didn't take kindly to Manny's insinuation that he was gay. He drew his fist back and socked him right in the nose making Manny fall out of his seat.

"Leo?!" Piper exclaimed angrily while quickly tending to Manny. "Are you okay?"

The other restaurant attendees watched entertained.

Manny's eyes were clamped close as he tried to keep tears out of his eyes. Instinctively his hands covered his bloody nose.

"I think it's bruised."

Leo felt extremely horrible watching Piper gasp by the amount of blood coming from the guys nose.

He reached down and helped Manny up.

"I'm.. I'm really sorry."

Manny lowered his hands from his nose, while the logical side of him could see he was genuinely apologetic, the testosterone fueled side was furious.

In a split second he drew his fist back and punched Leo in the temple, coupled with his powers Leo was sent backwards and was knocked out.

"Someone help him." Manny replied casually while he walked over Leo's unconscious body.

Piper followed him immediately.

"Stop walking and tilt your head back," She explained while digging in her purse for some tissues. When she couldn't find any she resorted to texting Phoebe hoping she was still at Fine Romance.

*Manny got in a fight with the guy who stood me up, please tell me you're at Fine Romance and can come pick us up. -Piper*

Unbeknownst to Piper, Phoebe was actually already in the car shacking up with some guy named Owen. Luckily they were finished. Phoebe kicked the guy out and replied she would be there soon.

Manny washed his hands and nose in the upstairs bathroom of the manor.

Blood had gotten all over his shirt and as much as he wanted to walk in to his room and find another shirt, he knew he couldn't.

After taking off the disgusting shirt he cracked open that bathroom door.

"Do you guys have a shirt I could borrow?"

Piper was already ready with a shirt from the Ex boyfriend pile beside the door.

When Piper opened the bathroom door completely, Manny wanted to shriek and cover his chest, but he didn't.

He couldn't help but feel uncomfortable about Piper's once over. It took a second but she finally handed over the shirt which Manny hastily put on.

"Thanks Piper, and sorry about ruining your chances for a date with that guy."

Piper was pretty confused as to why Manny looked genuinely and terribly sorry. "Why?"

Manny was lost for a reply but luckily Phoebe entered the restroom.

"Bad news, Fine Romance had a pipe explosion and is closed until further notice. Good news, Prue said you could stay here while you get your place fumigated for a few days because she has a business trip."

Piper wanted to disagree with the extended offer, she did just meet the guy after all but then again he was Phoebe's friend.

Manny sensing Piper's discomfort shook his head. "You know I can go to a hotel."

"Why do that? When we could be bonding? Because bonding is important. In fact I think we have been bonding quite a bit today. Isn't that great?" Phoebe replied hoping Manny would take a hint about the book.

"Oh.. Uh. Well if you insist, we can catch up on old times. I can stay on the couch."

Piper frowned at his response and glared at Phoebe. She was always trying to take what she couldn't have.

"Nonsense, you deserve to be comfortable after the incident. Go ahead and sleep in Prue's room. What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Piper insisted.

Manny wondered how many people have slept in his room while he wasn't there.

"Oh. Okay. Well I'm going to take a nap."

Phoebe directed him to the correct room and walked back to Piper excitedly. She was so happy that Piper was happy even if it was because of a date with her own sister. What she didn't know didn't hurt her.

"So how was your date?" Phoebe pried.

"It was great. He's really sweet and caring. He honestly wasted no words, everything he said actually meant something. None of that awkward chit chat. He's really handsome. I never thought I'd be into the dark mysterious type but wow." Piper gushed.

Phoebe deflated at the thought of Manny disappearing. At least she would have him for a few more days until the piping was fixed.

Manny was awoken from his nap by the smell of chocolate chip cookies.

He opened his eyes to see Piper placing a tray on the night stand beside him.

"Oh, hey. I figured you might want a snack when you woke up."

"What brand are these? Chips ahoy dough or the yellow brand? I'm sorry to be picky but I only really like Chips Ahoy dough." Manny asked knowing they were made from scratch.

"Actually I made them from scratch. I like to bake and cook. I hope you like them." Piper responded nervously.

Manny picked up a cookie and took a bite. It was still warm, crispy on the outside but soft in the center. He nearly moaned as he ate another.

"These are delicious! How did I get so lucky?" He praised making Piper blush.

"Can I take a look at your nose? I really hope it isn't broken."

Manny nodded and Piper took a step forward to have a better look at his nose. She prodded it gently causing Manny to hiss.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed as she looked into his eyes.

Coop knew what Piper was contemplating, with a smile he waved his hand intensifying the spark she felt.

Manny was completely caught off guard when Piper pressed her lips against his. He wanted to shove her off, suddenly regretting the whole plan, not because he was disgusted but because his body was reacting against his will.

He wanted to pull away and leave the kiss chaste so that he wouldn't be so disturbed later on but he couldn't stop.

He kissed her back. Piper deserved to be cherished and happy even for a couple of days at the expense of his sanity.

Manny tried to thinking of attractive guys and other things but the testosterone made him focus entirely on Piper's kiss.

"Oh my." Phoebe gasped. She was disturbed by the scene once she had opened the door. She was certain Manny was also but knew he couldn't do anything about it, so she did.

"Piper, Manny does not like hooking up on the first date. You ought to slow down before you scare him off."

Piper was grumpy when she pulled away, while Manny was extremely confused.


End file.
